1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a telephone survey creation method. In particular, there is a method of creating a telephone survey, by a non-technical person, using a single web site and an audio responsive system like a telephone.
2. Description of the Related Art
The background art shows a variety of methods for creating and designing telephone surveys. For example, market survey data collection systems are well known in the art. One of the more common prior art systems for collecting such data involves the use of survey booklets or questionnaires that are disseminated by mail to a diverse group of panelists. The survey is individually hand written into by the panelists to record the survey data relating to their particular shopping habits for various identified products. Thereby, it is mailed back to the survey company by the panelist where the data is then key punched and ultimately read into a data processor or computer for accumulative processing of all of this data. This procedure, although satisfactory under some circumstances, is time consuming, costly and provides many opportunities for erroneous data entry due to carelessness either by the panelist who is writing in the data by hand or by the keypunch operator who is subsequently encoding the hand written data.
Various business, governmental, and media-based organizations often find it desirable to obtain reliable and timely data representative of opinion in regard to some question of local, regional, or national interest. Typically, the question of interest is broadcast via the transmitter of a television or radio station and individuals in the station audience are invited to express their opinion in regard to the matter by the use of their telephone sets. Telephone-based audience survey systems are called upon to handle a high caller volume at a relatively low cost in a manner that insures wide audience acceptability and that provides highly reliable data.
Presently available telephone-based audience survey systems are expensive and labor intensive. Where the survey is conducted manually by operators or the like, it is not only costly but slow. Where such surveys have been conducted by the telephone company, two separate telephone numbers are required for the participant and the information as to the results must be obtained from an office of the telephone company.
Newer computer-based systems have been developed because of the high costs in soliciting questions. For example, touch-tone phone systems are well known and extend throughout the world. Such systems have been used for normal telephone conversations and as datasets but have only recently achieved their full utilization as a communications interface. Specifically, recent systems act as verbally interactive telephone interrogation systems using a conventional two-way telephone subscriber network to enable individual subscriber selection of telephone messages with which the subscriber may individually interact and to which the subscriber may respond and have the response recorded or accumulated in an automatic telephone survey. This system has become popular for purposes of polling or interrogation, such as the cable TV system known as QUBE.
Examples of patents related to the present invention are as follows, and each patent is herein incorporated by reference for the supporting teachings:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,320,256, is an improved verbally interactive telephone interrogation system. It provides a two-way telephone subscriber network, such as a touch-tone type two-way telephone subscriber network, is used to enable both telephone call placement and individualized remote variable audio message selection and interrogation of prerecorded audio messages as well as remote response accumulation. The touch-tone type telephone, which is employed to maintain normal telephone contact with other subscribers, is also utilized to call-up a multi track magnetic storage device that provides selectable reproducible conversational responsive audio messages to particular conversational responsive audio messages to particular primary reproducible interrogatory message from a plurality of different selectable audio messages stored thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,372 is a method for independently electronically collecting related market survey data from a plurality of diverse locations (6,6xe2x80x2) for temporary storage 20 at each of the independent diverse locations (6,6xe2x80x2) where the data is collected for subsequent transmission thereof from these locations (6,6xe2x80x2) over a telephone type link (30,36,42) for accumulative processing thereof at a remote central electronic data processor. An interactive interchangeable prompt message display is displayed on a visual display device (32) indicating one of a plurality of market survey categories in a predefined sequence. An actual data input signal may be provided via a keyboard (70) or barboard (29) and/or wand (18,28) in response to the prompt message display with this input being stored in a memory (16) for subsequent transmission. Prior to storage in the memory (16), the data is stored in a buffer and is displayed on the display device (32) to enable confirmation prior to transfer to the bulk memory (16). When a confirmation command signal is provided to the microcomputer (10,12,14) the data is transferred to the bulk memory (16) and the display (32) is changed to display the next prompt message in the sequence. The sequence recycles for each market transaction for enabling independent integral storage (16) of each product transaction at the location of the unit (6,6xe2x80x2). This stored data is then transmitted to the remote data processor via acoustic coupling (30,36,42) to the telephone line.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,451,700 is a telephone based automatic audience survey system for polling an audience to obtain data representative of the opinion regarding a question of interest is disclosed having a first means responsive to incoming calls for answering the calls with an analog voice signal that both identifies the telephone based automatic audience survey system and queries a response in regard to the question of interest, and a second means connected to the first means and responsive to the answers provided to the query portions of the analog voice signal for providing data representative of the consensus regarding the question of interest. Third means connected to the second means are operative to display the data in real-time. The third means includes a video character generator, an audio signal generator, and an operator display.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,232 is a method for independently centrally electronically accumulating market survey data from different content rapidly disseminated multiple inquiry market surveys from a plurality of panelist stations (14,16,18,20) located at diverse locations. Variable market survey questionnaires to diverse located panelists may be as remotely rapidly disseminated from a centrally located host computer (12) to the panelist stations (14,16,18,20) over a common communications link (22 or 104) for individual visual display at the panelist stations (14,16,18,20), such as on a CRT (42) or television set (44) or alphanumeric display (45), with the displayed questionnaires resulting from a downstream loaded set of control instructions stored in a local survey program RAM (54) whose content may be remotely varied from the head end or host computer (12). The individualized responses provided by the panelists are locally processed (34,50) temporarily stored in a local survey data RAM (52) and subsequently transmitted back to the host computer (12) via a telephone type link (22) where they are accumulatively processed in a rapid fashion. Multiple different surveys can be downstream loaded to individual panelists, or to a subgroup of panelists, or to all panelists, and follow up surveys and/or tailored surveys can also be rapidly conducted, all under the control of the host computer (12) at the head end providing a rapid and flexible survey collection and dissemination method.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,422, the compiling system and method of the present invention enables the recording of individually customized information onto blank storage media devices, and includes a data base memory device for storing information signals indicative of customized recipient information pertaining to a group of recipients. A presentation memory device stores a group of pre-recorded signals indicative of a group of information segments to be compiled selectively. A computing device responds to stored information signals indicative of customized recipient information for selecting certain ones of said pre-recorded signals indicative of certain ones of said segments and for causing signals indicative of certain ones of said segments to be retrieved selectively in a given sequence for compilation purposes. A recording device responds to retrieved signals indicative of certain ones of said segments for storing said retrieved signals onto individual ones of the storage media devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,838,774, in an intelligent switched telephone network, a telephone polling method is provided wherein a call made in response to a telephone based polling service is processed and disconnected without connection of the call to the subscriber of the polling service. A call received in the network and directed to a number associated with a telephone polling service has its identification information read and compared to entries in a database of subscriber information for a matching entry. The call is tabulated in the database as a response to the polling service poll or survey. If desired by the polling service subscriber, the calling party may be provided with a caller interaction program through which the calling party may select from a variety of responses. If desired, the calling party may be provided with a call termination announcement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,075 is an interactive, customer-accessible data processing system embodied in a programmed personal computer that induces customers of a restaurant, store or other business to enter information about themselves into the system. The information, which may include names, addresses, dates and answers to survey questions, is entered into data fields displayed on a display screen. The system enables a business to generate promotional messages tailored to customers based on the customer-entered information. For example, a business can readily generate birthday offer letters to customers based on their name, address, and birth date simply be selecting an option provided by the system. To induce customers to enter the necessary information, the system flashes an incentive message on the computer display screen. The message may offer to enter a customer into a drawing or other contest in return for the customer entering the necessary information into the system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,098 is a system for obtaining information from a plurality of computer users (7 to 12), comprising a processing apparatus (2) including an input mechanism (3 and 4) via which a survey author may input data, and a survey authoring mechanism (FIG. 2) enabling construction of a survey questionnaire document including at least one question formulated from data input by the survey author, transmission mechanism (6) for transmitting the survey questionnaire document to a plurality of respondent users (7 to 12); and a processing apparatus (2) including a collating mechanism arranged to receive transmissions from the transmission mechanism, to identify response documents which include responses to the at least one question from the plurality of respondent users and to load a database in accordance with the responses.
The foregoing patents reflect the state of the art of which the applicant is aware and are tendered with the view toward discharging applicants"" acknowledged duty of candor in disclosing information that may be pertinent in the examination of this application. It is respectfully stipulated, however, that none of these patents teach or render obvious, singly or when considered in combination, applicant""s claimed invention.
3. Problems with the Prior Art
As is illustrated by the prior art, the use of telephone solicitation and survey taking is well known in the industry. The problem with all the prior art systems is that there are major limitations that inhibit the ability of the survey organization to create the survey in an easy, inexpensive and timely manner. Typically, the survey organization designs the set of survey questions. To use the modern telephone survey systems, the survey questions are provided to a group of highly skilled computer programmers who design the telephone survey system over a period of several weeks or months. Additionally, even after the customer survey has been programmed and is ready to be initiated, there is no easy and short method of modifying the survey short of reprogramming large portions of the created survey, which would add several days or weeks to the already large delay.
Therefore, there is a need for a customer survey design system that allows survey organizations to easily design the survey, modify the survey and to do so in a shorter period of time.
It is a feature of the invention to provide a customer survey design system that allows survey organizations to easily design and modify the survey, and to do so in a shorter period of time.
A further feature of the invention is to provide a method of creating a telephone survey, by a non-technical person, using a single web site and an audio responsive system, like a telephone.
An additional feature of the invention is to provide a method of allowing a client to create a customer survey to be taken over a phone. Specifically, there is a step of accessing a web site and begin creating the survey by typing in survey questions and enteries. Additionally, there is a second step of completing the creation of the survey by providing a voice script for each question typed onto the web site.
A further feature of the invention is to provide the method of creating the survey includes the step of allowing the client to modify the questions created on the web site. Additionally, there is a method of accessing a web site that further comprises the steps of a) selecting an entry from a pre-set entry list for the survey, b) determining if the selected entry is a question, and if so, prompting the client to type the question to be asked in the survey, and thereafter completing the question criteria, and returning to the step of selecting a pre-set entry.
A further feature of the invention is to provide the step of accessing a web site further comprising the steps of a) selecting an entry from a pre-set entry list for the survey, b) determining if the selected entry is an opening statement and, if so, prompting the client for completing the opening statement entry criteria, and c) returning to the step of selecting a pre-set entry.
Yet, an additional feature is to provide the step of accessing a web site further comprising the steps of: a) selecting an entry from a pre-set entry list for the survey; b) determining if the selected entry is a closing statement, and if so, prompting the client to complete closing statement criteria; and c) returning to the step of selecting a pre-set entry.
A further feature includes providing the step of accessing a web site further comprising the steps of determining if the enteries are acceptable to the client, and if not, returning the client to the step of selecting a pre-set entry or previously created entry, and if acceptable, providing the client with a unique identifyer number.
Again, a feature of the invention is to include the step of completing the creation of the survey by providing a voice script for each question typed onto the web site, further comprising the steps of: a) entering the unique identifyer number over the telephone to access the survey; and b) speaking a voice script for the opening statement, if there was an opening statement created over the web site.
Moreover, there are additionally provided the step of completing the creation of the survey by providing a voice script for each question typed onto the web site, further comprising the steps of: a) reading the voice scripts, over the telephone, created for each question typed onto the web site; and b) speaking a voice script for the closing statement, if there was a closing statement created over the web site.
Additionally, the invention provides the step of completing the creation of the survey by providing a voice script for each question typed onto the web site, further comprising the steps of: a) determining if the voice scripts are completed to the satisfaction of the client; and b) providing the client with a unique customer phone number to be accesses by the customer to take the survey over the telephone.
The invention resides not in any one of these features per se, but rather in the particular combination of all of them herein disclosed and claimed and it is distinguished from the prior art in this particular combination of all of its structures for the functions specified.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention so that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and so that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter which would form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims are regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, neither is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.